By Grâçia Ada Obi
Kain Tailby, 31, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 16 years and 10 months at Derby Crown Court on Friday March 28, 2025. Tailby assaulted girlfriend Christine Everett-Hickson, 21, after she slapped him on their one-year anniversary on February 18, 2024.
The pair had begun rowing in the flat they shared in Riddings, Alfreton, following a trip to the pub the previous evening. Christine – also known as “Chrissie” – sustained a fractured skull, bruising and brain damage during the assault. After deteriorating in the hospital life support was withdrawn and she died in the early hours of February 23.
Jailing Kain Tailby at Derby Crown Court today (Friday) 28, Judge Shaun Smith KC told him his “explosion of anger” had “snuffed out” the life of his partner of one year in “just a few minutes.”
It’ll be recalled that the pair argued and after what Tailby described as some “pushing and shoving” he pinned Chrissie to the ground before grabbing her by the neck and hitting her head on the floor a number of times – with a neighbour describing how he heard several loud bangs before silence.
A short time later Tailby called 999, asking for both ambulance and police. During the call Tailby tried to downplay his actions – and even attempted to paint Chrissie as the instigator of the “pushing and shoving”. He told the operator that Chrissie was in the bath, bleeding from her ear and he had been trying to clean up the blood.
Chrissie was rushed to hospital where doctors discovered she had suffered a number of skull fractures and a traumatic brain injury which she would not survive. The 21-year-old died five days later.
Tailby was arrested at the scene and in interview told officers various stories about what had happened that night and, although, claiming to feel guilty and remorseful about what happened, he was never able to explain his intentions in assaulting Chrissie in the way that he did.
He admitted manslaughter but denied intentionally killing Chrissie.